Plainfield soldier dies at N.C. base

A U.S. Army mechanic from Plainfield stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina appeared in good spirits when he visited home last week and went camping with his father, family members said.

That just deepens the mystery of how Jeffrey Van Us, 26, died. His father, Dan Van Us, said he still doesn't know what killed his son, who died Friday morning after being found unresponsive in his barracks, according to media reports.

"He was doing well I thought," Dan Van Us said Sunday evening.

U.S. Army officials refused to comment Monday on the death pending the conclusion of an Army investigation.

Jeffrey Van Us was a Joliet West High School graduate who loved to play video games and kept mostly to himself, his father said. He has two sisters and a brother and spent time growing up Oklahoma, where his mother moved after his parents got divorced, his father said.

Jeffrey Van Us was an operations non-commissioned officer who served as a Senior Vehicle Mechanic with Company B, 307th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, according to media reports.